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We have more than sixty years of excellence (1956-present) with an annual enrollment of more than 1,000 students in over 35 different classes. The Palomar College Cabinet and Furniture Technology program offers the most comprehensive woodworking career curriculum in the nation. Utilizing three fully-equipped shops, our 2 full-time and 20 part-time instructors provide a breadth of courses and depth of expertise impossible to obtain in smaller programs.

For most of the course, we'll be heavily focused on developing your skills using hand tools. As a developing woodworker, there is no substitute for putting in the hours of direct hands on practice it takes to gain an intuitive understanding of wood. The early part of this course focuses on working with hand tools as we believe they bring you closer to wood as a material. You can rip a board on a table saw with out much thought to the wood itself, but you will understand much more about grain if you rip a board with a hand saw. As the course progresses, machine processes are introduced as a pragmatic aid in expediting projects.

Our programs prepare our students to open their own woodworking business or become employed by a high-end woodworking related business. We currently offer an Associate of Science Degree as well as a Certificate of Achievement in 8 different Program Areas. Students may also take coursework to complete a Certificate. Our courses range from Furniture Design and Instrument Making to Production Cabinetmaking. Our graduates are highly employable with the diversity of courses available.

One aspect of the Windsor Design that is hit or miss is the vice. Notice we have to use the singular when describing it because this is the first workbench that we have reviewed which features only one vice. To make matters more frustrating, the vice cannot be repositioned along the bench. That said, the vice does at least have the largest capacity out of any we reviewed. At 7” capacity, the Windsor Design vice can secure any size workpiece you may have.

Great advice. May I add #11?…if you’re left handed (like me), build a left handed bench. It sounds obvious, but when I made my bench, I had looked at all the pictures in my books, laid out plans for a nice, traditional bench, built it, then realized my front vise should have been on the other end (I have no tail vise). I plane from left to right, and the front vise is always in the way.

Every single person in the class was a novice when they walked in. We all made mistakes at some point, yet none of us really ever felt bad about these hiccups. Inevitably, Bob turned these mistakes into problem-solving opportunities where we could explore new ideas. So what if one morning I skipped coffee and accidentally spent 10 minutes drilling random-ass, pointless domino mortises in the middle of my bench legs? 4 dominos, some sawdust and glue, a little bit of sawing and sanding-- I've got four new inlays on my legs and nobody's the wiser. Not only do I now know how to roll with the punches when building something, but I've got a bench that's uniquely mine AND I don't feel like an idiot. And that last part is a serious feat.
Whether you want to build your own kitchen cabinets, a credenza for your dining room, or built in shelves for your bedroom you should have some basic cabinetry skills before getting started. There are so many options when designing and building cabinets: face frame vs. frameless; sliding vs. hinged doors; dovetails vs. rabbets; plywood vs. MDF; wood...
A small oak table is a very useful wooden item for every household. You can yourself make a nice, strong and beautiful oak table suitable for any purpose. See the image below. As you can see, it is a small, yet good enough table to be used as a coffee table, lamp stand, breakfast table, etc. You can also find many other design variants on the internet. Choose the one you want for yourself and start making it now.
PS: I saw that a recent review from Nicholas L. hinted that some people weren't welcome at the Community Woodshop. I can say with absolute certainty that everyone I've met has been welcomed with open arms and encouraged to participate at the woodshop. My class is a mix of genders and races, and nobody has experienced any difference in treatment from Bob or anyone else there. I truly can't imagine a situation where anyone would be treated any differently.
When we set out to design a new workbench for our customers, from the very beginning we decided it should, above all, be simple. We make no bones about it, our vises are designed and made to work sweetly, but not to a price point. However, not everyone is ready for a time-consuming bench build. For those looking to get their feet wet in traditional woodworking, using time-proven techniques and tools, this bench will provide all the workholding required to test the waters. For many, this will be all the bench you need, and for others it will be an excellent springboard to our Split Top Roubo, while keeping the Classic as a second bench. The bench features our Classic Leg Vise, Planing Stop and Crucible Holdfast as workholding devices. With a clever arrangement of our Planing Stop, Roubo’s Doe’s Foot and the Crucible Holdfast, you’re able to mimic the function of bench dogs and a tail vise, albeit in a more rudimentary manner.
Thanks! Great information. As an advanced novice worker, I finally decided to build my first bench a couple years ago. After reading several of your blogs knowing full well mortised dove tale leg joinery is yet beyond my capability, I elected to build Robert Lang’s “21st Century Workbench”. I also chose his VERITAS Twin Screw Vise in the face vise position. Used an old Craftsman face vise in the tail vise position. Constructed of laminated 9/4 x 31/2″ Pecan and 60″ long because of my small crowed shop. Super happy to this point. As I mature in woodworking I may live to construct one of a different choice at a latter date, but I’m 73 so we’ll see. Thanks again for the advise.
This trade and technical college currently serves over 15,500 credit students from its campus in downtown Los Angeles. Through the Construction, Design and Manufacturing Department, full-time students can enroll in a daytime certificate or an Associate of Science program in cabinet and millwork. Evening programs for current craftspeople include a certificate program in construction technologies and an Associate of Arts in cabinetmaking and millwork that provide students with the skills they need to work in construction or manufacturing.
Our instructors work out of a 27,000 square-foot facility, where over 100 stationary and portable woodworking machines are available. We emphasize hands-on training and real-world experience, and all classes are project-focused. Over forty different classes cover topics including faceframe and frameless cabinet construction, CNC woodworking, architectural millwork, table and casegood construction, hand tools, woodturning, and veneering.
After you have all the holes clean, set things up for your glue-up. You want everything on-hand before you start - drill, driver bit, glue, roller or whatever you're going to spread the glue with, and four clamps for the corners. You'll need a flat surface to do the glue-up on - I used my hollow core door on top my bench base - and another somewhat-flat surface to put the other panel on. My folding table was still holding my oak countertop, which makes a great flat surface, but I want to make sure I didn't drip glue on it so I covered it with some painters plastic that was left over from the last bedroom we painted.

These things may be tiny in size, but building one is not that easy. It takes some serious woodworking knowledge and skill to build a nice wooden mobile stand. When I first saw one online, I just couldn’t resist thinking of buying one. But when I saw the price, I was forced to rethink. Also, a woodwork lover like me cannot be contained with just one piece and I was not willing to spend on more than one. So instead I decided to build myself one. Yes, it took some doing but the final result was satisfying. Luckily, I found this awesome tutorial online that helped me build my first ever wooden phone holder.

We want to make these pieces square, and of identical length. Square is a matter of making sure the saw blade is square and that the cutting guide is square. The trick to getting the pieces of the same length is to clamp them together and to cut them all at once. For the 4x4's, that means making a rough cut in each first, so we have four pieces, each 3-4" longer than we need, from which we'll get our four legs.
What is the one thing every woodworker needs? Yes, a workbench. Now that you have or at least I am assuming you have worked on so many woodworking projects, you are close to becoming a professional woodworker. You now probably owe yourself a nice woodworking bench. You should also know that a true woodworker never buys his bench from the market, but always builds one himself. But before you start this project, you should know what a workbench is.
Require the woodworker to be able to read the plans and to transfer images and dimensions from the plan to the lumber. The wood has been planed and all glued panels are completed unless over 14 inches. If panel required is over 14 inches, one glue seam will be required. The woodworker needs to be able to do some cutting, jointing, assembling and finishing. White Kits do not require planing. White Kits supply all of the needed hand-selected dimensioned lumber, but woodworking knowledge and tools will be useful to complete the project successfully.
The decision to be made with respect to the end vise is whether the support plate should be mounted to on the inside or on the outside of the stretcher. Mounting the plate on the inside of the stretcher reduces the reach of the vise - it can't open as far, because the support plate is back from the edge by a couple of inches. But mounting the plate on the outside of the stretcher means that we need to add some support structure for the inner jaw of the vise, which the legs would have provided if we'd mounted the plate on the inside.
I am sharing here a link to the detailed tutorial written by Pete at diypete.com, who shares the step by step process for making a wonderful barrel coffee table from scratch. He also tells you what items you’ll need for this project and where to find them. For example, you can buy an old whiskey barrel online or from a local whiskey store for a few bucks, if you haven’t already got one.
At Costco, we understand that when you’re looking for a shed or barn, you’re not just looking for a space to store your tools, you’re looking for a structure that’s reliable, sturdy, and weatherproof. This kind of quality assurance is especially important when your shed or barn isn’t just a toolshed, but a place for storing your memories or working on projects. At Costco.com, you’ll find sheds and barns of all shapes, sizes, and materials. Shop by brand, color, or features, and rest assured, knowing that whatever structure you choose, you’re getting it at the best possible price!
Had a great experience at the shop! My schedule is hectic and unfortunately can't make the classes, but I did do a private lesson with Bob. In one afternoon, we created two cutting boards. Bob was very detailed with breaking down the process and using the machines. Honestly didn't expect to make two cutting boards but Bob was proficient with time. I got really comfortable using the machines especially the table saw. I learned how to use the planer, jointer, miter saw, table saw, drill press, router, disk sander, and random orbital sander. Really recommend folks that are interested in woodworking with little to no experience to take the Safety Orientation and the Cutting Board class or private lessons. Looking forward to my next project at the shop!
This instructable shows how to build, with basic tools and readily-available lumber, a bench that provides most of the function of a traditional woodworker's workbench. I began with a design by Asa Christiana that was featured in the second season of finewoodworking.com's video series Getting Started in Woodworking. The project plans are available on their website.
The base needs to be as wide as the sum of width of the guide strip and the distance from the edge of the shoe, plus a bit extra, With my saw, the overhang is 3-1/2", so I made my guide strip 5-1/2" wide. The distance between from the edge of the shoe to the blade is about 4-1/2", so the base needs to be at least 10" wide. Since I was working with a 24" wide sheet, I just sliced it down the middle.
As simple as its elements are, the workbench is more than a tabletop with legs, a well, and a few holes. Virtually everything in the workshop comes to rest on the bench at some point, even if only between operations at other stations. Planning and layout, cutting and shaping, assembling and finishing–all can be, and often are, performed on the benchtop. The better the design, and the better suited its size and configuration to your labors, the more efficient a tool it will be.
I used the factory edge of the half-panel of hardboard as a guide for cutting the ply. I wanted to cut a 5-1/2" strip, and my saw cuts 4-1/2" from the edge of the shoe, so I wanted the edge of the hardboard 10" from the edge of the ply. So I set my combination square to 10", and used it to mechanically set the distance. Hint - if you need two things to be precisely the same length, try to avoid measuring them separately. Use some mechanical mechanism for setting the distance.
I agree that even at 12x12, things'll be "cozy" inside. That's OK. Keep in mind that this will be a general purpose hobby shed, not just a wood working shed. Even 12x8 would be plenty big enough for building 1 meter wingspan bungee launched RC gliders. And for the electronics projects I do, I only need enough workbench space to do some soldering with a 3rd hand (for electric guitar pedals). If I need more room than the shed offers for wood working projects, I'll just roll the table saw down a ramp and do my cutting outside in the sun.